Achieving accuracy when shooting a rifle is a combination of the skill of a user and the design of the rifle. Many aspects of the design have an impact on the overall accuracy. Among these are manufacturing precision, alignment of components, and proper maintenance and cleaning. Equally important, and often overlooked, is the ergonomic features that allow the rifle to be held steadily and comfortably.
Two such rifle features which assist the user in steadying the gun, thereby preventing the gun from slipping during recoil, and in generally using the gun comfortably, are the stock and the grip. While separate components of the gun, traditional gun instruction dictates that the user engage these two parts cooperatively with the stock positioned against into the user's shoulder pocket, and the user applying a firm rearward pressure against the grip to further secure the stock firmly in the shoulder to significantly reduce the effects of recoil.
However, the ergonomic and safety benefits derived from utilizing the stock and grip are negated when considering that often, grips are used on rifles for which they are not designed and therefore, are not compatible. As a result, the user often improperly grips the grip, sacrificing control over the rifle. Further, due to proprioception, or the ability of the user to sense the positioning of his limbs in space, traditional vertical grips are often incorrectly engaged by the user in efforts to grip the rifle as close to the line of the barrel, and therefore the user's line of sight. Yet further, the user is often unable to securely press the stock against his shoulder to steady the shot, while simultaneously clasping the grip to properly engage the trigger and maintain his sight alignment. As a result, the rifle can slip away from the user during firing, and an unintended target, often human, inadvertently hit.
Still further, because of their current design, rifles can easily be classified as assault weapons in certain settings, and the user banned from their use. For instance, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 defined semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and an additional pair of features including a traditional pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a threaded barrel, and a muzzle-mounted grenade launcher, as assault weapons. Current legal trends also indicate a shift towards requiring only a single feature in addition to the magazine to be classified as an assault weapon. Accordingly, there is a need for a rifle design which enables comfortable, safe and controlled, and unrestricted use of the rifle.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.